Chapter 2300: Flip the Table
The Viswa-student did hesitate a bit for a moment, however he nodded and asked.
"How do you want to do that?"
"As I said, the golden pillar sets trigger the walls and throw the puppets at us. Since our combat abilities can"t be used we cannot handle them for too long.
We need to use the red pillars to lock them.
As of now, only that Hel-Student and I can use the red pillars. So, that guy will be solely focused on controlling the puppets, while I guide him and a.s.sist him.
As for both of you, if you step in, I am sure new golden pillar sets will be triggered and the obstacles will increase.
Apart from that, the formations created by the lotuses will increase as well. We would need to decode more golden pillars before we could do anything more. From what I can see, the more formations a golden pillar set completes, the more trouble we have as it would be harder to decode.
So, I want you guys to be solely focused on the Golden pillars. Since you cannot directly walk through the tiles, i will provide you with the a.s.sistance to move around. I will also explain how to identify the locks of the golden pillars.
The locks shouldn"t be difficult since you guys came this far."
"I thought only both of us are cooperating. You just said both of them don"t have any brain cells." The Viswa-student said while giving a side-eyed glance to the Hephaestus-student beside him.
Judging by his expression, this guy shared the same opinion as Sam, at least partially.
"Of course, that is why we are the primary on this one. They can only a.s.sist us through this while we solve it.
And if you believe they don"t amount even do that much, we can get rid of them first and finish the rest.
Its your call.
Think it over and tell me if you agree. But no matter your decision, none of you shall move from your spots. If the puppets come, just await my move and don"t do anything stupid." Sam jumped towards the next golden pillar and started unlocking it as well.
With the light element partial fusion on his hands increasing his speed, he managed to quickly finish off the first surface in the next couple of minutes. By the time he finished the second surface, he got an answer from the Viswa-student.
"I talked with this guy. He is fine with the condition. I don"t know about that guy though."
All three of them looked at the Hel-Student.
"I am okay as well."
"Good. Now, first I will explain the pillars to the both of you. You start working on the second set, that idiot triggered, while I finish the first."
Sam went to them by triggering a few red pillars in the middle and brought them to the golden pillars triggered by the Hel-Student.
After explaining how to identify the locks, he didn"t immediately move back, instead stood on the pillar"s edge and waited for the puppets to come.
The new set just finished its first formation and the old set did its next. Two new puppets
came out.
Both of them are luckily bulky humanoids.
They are slow. Sam and Hel-student lured them to the right side and trapped them before focusing on the golden pillars again.
Even though he is already fast, with every lock, his speed is increasing. Even with all the intricacy displayed in these formations, the patterns are same. Sam principles were used in the locks, so it became easier for Sam to unlock them.
Time pa.s.sed.
No new golden pillars are triggered. Even though Sam is working alone on the first set, he is the first to unlock his set completely.
Now, he needs to identify which lotus he needs to deactivate first based on its importance in the formation. The goal is to deactivate the formation without making it unstable or explode.
After some more investigation, Sam did figure it out.
Then he used the stone pins that are left over to create a small formation around the energy core inside the golden pillar.
He used the same principle he used in the energy beam tunnel.
The core is sucking the energy from the bottom, so he is creating another sink that will divert the energy there, deactivating the lotus cleanly.
Sam went on to deactivate the lotuses, after the first one got deactivated, the formation pattern of the lotus petals seemed to be shifting, but at least they didnt trigger anymore puppet entries.
Sam worked quick for the next forty-five minutes. He didn"t spare any energy successfully deactivated the first set of the golden pillars.
All of them disappeared into the tiles and started glowing with golden light.
Sam stood on the t.i.tle to check it.
They became neutral tiles, which honestly gave Sam more s.p.a.ce to move around.
By then, the Viswa-student and hephaestus-student are working together on the fourteenth pillar of the second set.
It is not that fast, but still decent enough.
Hel-Student is close to them standing on a red pillar, awaiting the arrival of the first puppet.
Sam jumped to the nearest golden pillar and started decoding them, increasing the speed. Another thirty minutes later, they are done with unlocking the pillars.
Sam is about to check the deactivation pattern for the lotuses, when Viswa-student stopped him.
"I have a doubt though. Do you think we can leave as soon as we finish the golden pillars?"
"I would a.s.sume so, apart from that there is no other problem identified. If you have seen any, you can tell me now."
"You have examined the whole room?"
"Not all of it, because there is nothing much. There are no clues in the walls, they are just there to throw the puppets. We can not fly, and the ceiling is too far high for there to be any other problems hidden if we can"t even fly.
There is no other type of problem produced by the tiles, other than the ones that we are
solving.
So, my belief that we should be able to get out once we suppress the golden pillars.
The answer may lie in those glowing golden tiles."
Viswa-student nodded and said.
"Thanks, I guess you have done a lot."
Sam frowned and had a bad feeling. Unfortunately, he is right to have those bad feelings.
*BAM*
Viswa-student and the hephastus-student jumped from the pillar and landed on two tiles a
bit far away.
*GRRR*
They triggered the golden pillars. Two new sets of golden pillars started coming out. Even before they full came out, they moved to activate the red pillars.
Hel-student also joined.
They connected these to the existing red pillars creating a small barrier formation, trapping Sam. however, the golden pillar that Sam was just about to examine is also trapped along with
him.
He looked at the three who are standing outside the barrier on the red pillars. This is not completely out of his expectations. With the target on his back, it would be stupid of him to not think that something like this would happen.
Now that it happened, it didn"t surprise him.
"You look unfazed." Viswa-student commented as he looked at Sam"s uninterested
expression.
Seeing that there is no response, he continued.
"Anyway, I meant when I said I am thankful. You indeed did a lot. Now, that I understand the principle of beating this round, then I will do so after eliminating you."
"All the best."
The three opponents started activating more pillars. It is a basic attacking formation. It is
used to kill the people that are already trapped. Usually, applied on targets that are way too powerful or unpredictable. It is a common-knowledge formation at that.
Sam turned to the golden pillar and poked his hand into the energy core. However, he didn"t connect with to figure out the pattern, instead he channeled his own energy and used his
energy manipulation ability, destabilizing the core.
*RUMBLE*
The room started trembling a bit. While facing the stunned gazes of the three opponents, Sam
made the whole lotus destabilize.
*BOOM*
The golden lotus exploded on the spot and the shockwave threw Sam against the barrier.
He coughed up some blood, but wiped it off and stood up without even a change in
expression.
*RUMBLE*
The rumbling increased, the second set of the golden pillars suddenly became unstable.
*BOOM* *BOOM*
*BOOM**BOOM*
One after the other, the lotuses started exploding. Only the second set though, the third and
fourth remained intact.
The three opponent"s faces paled as they watched what happened next.
*SWISH**SWISH* *SWISH*
Several walls opened up and puppets started pouring in.
In the second set, five puppets were already activated, by their initial estimation, thirty-one
puppets should be remaining, but Sam"s speculation turned out to be right. There are not just thirty-six variations with the petals. There are some compound and
complex variations in the formations and they seemed to open bigger doors in the walls, sending puppets of higher might.
All of them came from all four sides, targeting the students.
And the barrier they created around Sam, became a blessing to him, and a curse to them,
because while the puppets jumped over the barrier and reached them, their path in that direction is blocked because of that barrier. Sam just crossed his arms and watched the scene.